Misters of Filipinas pageant ‘princes’ now kings

Mister Model Worldwide Philippines Derick Allen Lauchengco and Mister Super Globe Philippines Romel Ayag. Image: Facebook/Misters of Filipinas

MANILA, Philippines — When the 2021 Misters of Filipinas pageant concluded in Dauin, Negros Occidental, in October last year, only main winner Nadim Elzein was proclaimed king while his runners-up were hailed as princes. This was an exception to the contest’s usual practice of proclaiming several national titleholders in a single contest.

But almost a year after that fateful night in the Visayas, two of the Misters of Filipinas princes have earned their crowns as kings when organizer Prime Event Productions Philippines (PEPPS) Foundation Inc. announced their assignment to international competitions.

Second Prince Derick Allen Lauchengco was proclaimed Mister Model Worldwide Philippines, while Third Prince Romel Ayag received the Mister Super Globe Philippines title. PEPPS announced their ascension during the final callback for applicants in the 2022 Misters of Filipinas pageant held at the Winford Manila Resort and Casino on Aug. 28.

PEPPS official Aski Pascual told the Inquirer in an interview that Lauchengco, who represented Laguna in the 2021 national competition, will participate in the third edition of the Mister Model Worldwide search in India in December. Ayag from Caloocan, meanwhile, will be sent to the Mister Super Globe tilt, whose date and venue are yet to be determined.

PEPPS president Carlo Morris Galang told the Inquirer in an earlier interview that the 2021 pageant’s princes still stood the chance of representing the Philippines in an international competition when the opportunity came.

Some of the previous edition’s kings, proclaimed in 2019, had still not participated in their respective global contests because the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted the staging of many competitions here and abroad. He told the Inquirer that they would be given priority in appointing representatives to international tilts, while the 2021 princes were placed on a “waitlist.” No national competition was organized in 2020 because of the tighter restrictions imposed that year.

Elzein’s First Prince, Junichi Yabushita from Cebu City, already had his shot at an international title when he was appointed to represent the country in the male division of the inaugural edition of the Mister and Miss Runway Model Universe competition held in the Philippines in May. He won the global crown.

Meanwhile, Elzein finished third in the 2022 Man of the World contest held in Baguio City in June.

PEPPS is currently rolling out the Misters of Filipinas pageant’s ninth edition this year, where Elzein’s and his princes’ successors will be chosen. The coronation night will be held at the Newport Performing Arts Theater at Newport World Resorts in Pasay City on Oct. 16.

The national pageant will select the Philippines’ representatives to the 2023 editions of five international competitions — the homegrown Man of the World contest also mounted by PEPPS, as well as the Mister Model Worldwide, Mister Fitness Model World, Mister Tourism and Culture Universe, and Mister Super Globe contests. JB

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